An Open Response to Joan Peterson

One must be very careful when writing a response. If you’re not careful you can come across as two possible things:

A hypocrite

Crazy

Your response (link warning) does both of those quite handedly. So I am not sure you will be able to understand any of this or comprehend the logical reasoning, but as one of the men who is responsible for what the CSGV considers the most offensiveresponse I can’t sit back and ignore this. I cannot sit back and ignore it as you spread lies and attack those who are my friends. My comments will remain open as always, and the only thing to be deleted from this thread will be SPAM, personal attacks, and things that wouldn’t be allowed in a decent society.

So first let me apologize since I have no doubt this post is going to go Kevin Baker. So let’s get the broad facts out-of-the-way.

Fact: On the 8th of January 2012 there was a Brady Campaign organized vigil held for victims of Gun violence. The Brady Campaign defined this vigil as being for victims of gun violence. This statement was issued in a Youtube video posted December 18th, 2011.

“Imagine stopping a bullet before it kills a child. Impossible? Not with
your help! All across America people are coming together to save lives
from preventable gun violence. Will you join them, and the Brady
Campaign, as we host a nationwide candlelight vigil to honor victims of
gun violence?”

Fact: On the 8th of January a pair of gun bloggers and a group of USPSA competitors created a video of their vigil to violence. This was a vigil to all violence, not just gun violence. Shooters iterated how candles don’t stop violence. One shooter, myself, relayed a personal story.

Fact: The Anti-Rights supporters have a history of threatening rhetoric and ill will towards who have different view points. Unlike you, when I make a statement, I present facts and evidence to prove it.

So Jennifer thinks no one would light a candle for Lydia? Who says? Why didn’t Jennifer come to one of our vigils and light a candle for Lydia? Because she would rather attack the vigils which were in honor and memory of shooting victims. So, Jennifer-sorry you missed our vigils. We would welcome you.

Did you even read the story of Lydia? Joan, you stated right there in your own words that Lydia wasn’t welcome. The Brady Campaign video as shown above in the facts that Lydia wouldn’t count as a victim in your vigil. Lydia wasn’t a victim of “gun violence” so why would she be included?

There is only one option as to why you would want other victim classes to appear at your vigil for gun violence. You want to dance in their blood as well to make it appear they are victims of gun violence to provide you another political tool.

The real reason you dislike Jennifer’s post is because it shows your bias against other victims of violence. Jennifer herself is a victim, yet you attack her without thinking about what she is saying.

You specifically call out comments that prove what I have said above. My personal favorite is that you attacked the comment from A Girl and Her Gun.

A Girl and Her Gun is another victim of violence Joan. You even point it out earlier in your post as if some how citing it makes it irrelevant.

The truth is though it’s that other victims of violence make you uncomfortable Joan. They illustrate that Gun Violence is a horrible metric and ignores a large segment of the population. Gun violence implies that those victims are some how worth more than someone who was violated without the use of a gun.

You say the following:

These are the people who read my blog and then go and comment on other people’s blogs. These are the people who the NRA represents. These are the people who think they can threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle, and mock. During and after the candlelight vigils to honor victims of gun violence, the gun rights extremists ramped up their rhetoric.

When did we threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle or mock? We didn’t ramp up our rhetoric, we called for remembering all victims of violence, not just the one’s you find politically convenient. Which brings us to the next part of your statement.

Victims make them nervous. They don’t like victims. They say we are “dancing in the blood of victims” when we light candles and ring bells. What’s that all about anyway? It’s a statement made often.

I’m down right offended at that statement. I absolutely care about anyone who is a victim. I will do anything and everything to help them recover. What we don’t like, and despise, is some victims being treated as if they are some how not significant or worthy of notice. We don’t like the fact that anyone has become a victim in any type of crime. Victims, the real ones, we love and support. What we do want to accomplish is to lower the victimization rate. Where you would prefer the law-abiding disarmed, we would prefer them to fight back. We are willing to spend our time and money to help people not become victims.

Now why would I make a comment about “real victims”? Well it’s because in your effort to inflate your gun violence statistics you include criminals in your count. Criminals such as the man who broke into a woman’s house with a 12 inch hunting knife after she just lost her husband. The woman shot and killed the attacker, yet you include him as a “Victim of Gun Violence”. You know who was the real victim in that incident? The poor woman who was not breaking the law and was forced into a situation to defend herself and her child.

Who really cares about victims Joan? I wanted that woman and her child to survive. I wanted that store clerk at the Kroger’s robbery to remain unharmed. You however step up and defend the criminal. You wanted that poor woman to be shot so she could be another clear-cut victim for you to exploit for political gains. That’s why you’re a blood dancer. You prey upon the suffering of others to push your political agenda. Even with the positive outcome, you actively pursued the incident in furthering gun control.

There is a distinct difference in reaction after a horrible event occurs between our cultures Joan. While we immediately lower our head in mourning, sad at what we have lost. You go into overdrive pushing political legislation, giddy inside at the fuel it provides to pull at the emotional strings of the public. You know when people are emotional they very rarely are thinking rationally.

Then you continue with:

What these folks don’t see is that their rigid resistance to any common sense gun laws that might actually prevent some of the shootings in this country results in more victims. Do they want more shooting victims? It’s odd that they don’t see how failure to do something has resulted in more victims.

That’s the thing Joan, we care about all victims. Even more than that we want to enable people to have a choice and not be forced into victimhood. As for the last sentence, your assumption is that doing anything is some how good. What if you’re actions actually raise violent crime? Oh that’s right, you would consider more overall crime for less gun crime a win.

And then, cynically, they try to find their own victims. The truth is that there are too many victims and they know it.

Are you questioning whether or not A Girl and Her Gun or Jennifer are victims of violence? If so Joan, that’s just so wrong it’s not even funny. You’re less of a victim than they are since they both experienced it in the first person, they have the point of view of your sister, not yourself. Now if you’re not questioning that, are you saying we can’t find victims of Gun Control? Because lets ask Suzanna Hupp about that one. Honestly any victim in a gun free zone is a victim of gun control. They have had their choice regarding their own self-defense made for them.

There are too many victims and it’s baffling that someone would be saying that victims should be disarmed.

So to the pro gun bloggers who find it amusing to mock victims and survivors of gun violence, your words are here for all to see and they aren’t pretty. They portray a group of people who seem to believe that anything can be written with no consequences. Their voices represent a few loud, obnoxious and offensive people who are attempting to influence public policy in our country. Shame on anyone for listening to the voices of these people. We should all be offended.

Again, you say we were mocking, where were we mocking? Our words aren’t pretty because we’re telling the truth Joan. You don’t find them pretty because the facts don’t support your false view of the world. As for our voices only representing a few loud people, here’s a loud dose of truth. Our impromptu effort that was completely unorganized resulted in well over a hundred of blog posts talking about victims they know and how they themselves are going to refuse to be a victim. So if we’re in the minority, why isn’t our video disliked overwhelmingly?

That’s the difference between us Joan, you memorialize the past and twist history to infringe the rights of others. We on the other hand memorialize, learn, and act. We learned from our friends and family who were victims. We learned that there is evil in the world and you don’t know when it will arrive on your door step.

You attempt to shame people for seeking more knowledge on the subject. Here I am reading your post, I find it deplorable that someone could so readily come to the defense of criminals by attacking the law-abiding, but I’m not saying you don’t have a right to say it. You’re upset because you don’t want people to see the truth. You don’t want people to realize that they don’t have to be a victim, that they can fight back, and if they do fight back they can win. You want us to be silent, well many of us would rather speakup because we find our lives worth it.

And one last thing- I wonder how the bloggers and the people who comment on them would like to see things like this said about them in public? It’s something to consider before posting offensive things about another person. Do people like this think they can say anything on the internet? Do they know the person on the other end of the offensive and rude comment are humans with feelings and families and friends who fear for them when they see stuff like this? There’s the thing about “turning the other cheek” and there’s the thing about “doing unto your neighbors”. Those are things I learned in my church and practice every day.

I don’t hide Joan. I post blogs under my real name. If you’re offended by us saying you don’t have to be a victim I suggest some serious therapy. Who wants more victims in the world? As for turning the other cheek and doing unto your neighbors, we do that. We do it better than your side possibly can.

As for myself personally I stop and help people all the time. I’m also ready should that person in need of help actually be a predator preying upon the good. The best compliment I ever received was not even directed at me, it was someone explaining my character to someone else, “He’s an Eagle Scout both literally and figuratively.” I am the guy that goes and shovels his elderly neighbors driveway and then turns around and helps the single mother next door with hers. I’m the guy who will get up and Oh Dark Thirty and come get you because you just had an auto wreck and you’re car is totaled. I am the guy who will go out of his way to help anyone. I am not the guy however who will stand to the side and let evil triumph. I am not the guy who will surrender to criminals who have violated me and thus surrendered the right for me to be civil to them. I don’t know where it says in the Bible that I should surrender Gods greatest gift to a criminal.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
“One is Evil – It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
“The other is Good – It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Think long and hard about which wolf you are feeding Joan. Our hand is extended to everyone Joan, any victim can come to us seeking help, and we will help them. I will live my life with zero regrets and I resent people trying to force regrets upon me. In the words of Sean Sorrentino:

If I were to arrive in heaven prematurely and not have fought every step of the way I feel that god would be disappointed that I would waste such a wonderful gift. Those who would force others to waste that gift are most guilty of that sin.

I also wonder if these folks have mothers, sisters, children, brothers who see what they write and what they would think about their father, brother, son or daughter writing such vile things on the internet for all to see. At least I know that my integrity is in tact because I don’t choose to deploy tactics such as these. No comments will be published from pro gun activists on this post.

Lastly Joan, my mom does read my blog. She sees exactly what I write. Sadly my father passed away, but I know he would be proud of me for standing up to those who would force victimhood on others. My mom is proud that I am willing to stand up and say what needs to be said despite the fear that I would be disliked for speaking my mind. Being despised by someone who would force others to be disarmed and strip away their rights is not an insult to me Joan. It is a badge of honor and one that I will gladly carry with me until the day I die.

As for my integrity I have a very strict set of rules to protect it. I do so because “Integrity once lost can never be regained.” As such I never make a statement that I am unwilling to defend in public. This includes having open comments. Integrity means being willing to stand up behind that which you say.

I suggest you really think long and hard about your response because you haven’t presented a single element to support your case. Also those you attack are also standing out in the open willing to freely debate, yet you hide unwilling to defend your position in public. That is a sign of someone who lacks integrity.

Barron is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.

He has a BS in electrical engineering from Washington State University. Immediately after college he went into work on embedded software and hardware for use in critical infrastructure. This included cryptographic communications equipment as well as command and control devices that were using that communications equipment. Since then he’s worked on just about everything ranging from toys, phones, other critical infrastructure, and even desktop applications. Doing everything from hardware system design, to software architecture, to actually writing software that makes your athletic band do its thing.

About Barron

Barron is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.
He has a BS in electrical engineering from Washington State University. Immediately after college he went into work on embedded software and hardware for use in critical infrastructure. This included cryptographic communications equipment as well as command and control devices that were using that communications equipment. Since then he’s worked on just about everything ranging from toys, phones, other critical infrastructure, and even desktop applications. Doing everything from hardware system design, to software architecture, to actually writing software that makes your athletic band do its thing.

33 Responses to An Open Response to Joan Peterson

The narcissists can’t tolerate anyone arguing with them. Since it is always about them, and never about the issue, any argument contrary to theirs is a personal attack.

Plus, standing up for yourself and defeating the obstacles in your way is hard work. It’s much easier to fall down, moan and groan, and let someone else carry you forever. Well, easier if you have no shame and no pride and no honor.

Now there’s this about cynicism, Sergeant. It’s the universe’s most supine moral position. Real comfortable. If nothing can be done, then you’re not some kind of shit for not doing it, and you can lie there and stink to yourself in perfect peace.
Miles Vorkosigan,
Borders of Infinity,
Lois McMaster Bujold

She doesn’t want victory, she wants peace. We disturb her peace. Instead of re-examining her victimhood, she attacks us, the people who disturb her peace.

I’ve only been reading Joan’s semi-incoherent ramblings for the last couple of months. I’ve come to the conclusion that she is truly suffering from some form of mental illness and I can only hope that she eventually seeks help.The really despicable parties here are the Brady Bunch and CSGV. They found an emotionally troubled woman suffering from the loss of her sister and are expoliting her vulnerablities. She, of fragile mind, finds kindred spirits and welcomes their warm embrace. Finding solace in their company and ideology she blindly parrots their pablum with no critical thinking of her own. When she is confronted by a question that she is unable, or unwilling, to answer either ignores it by not letting it post (been there) or her favorite “Asked and answered many times…”Again the gun banners make a victim out of a victim.Joan Peterson, Brady Campaign Board member, says this about pro-rights bloggers (via an excellent post regarding her mental instability from Weer’d):
So there you have it dear readers. These are the people who read my blog and then go and comment on other people’s blogs. These are the people who the NRA represents. These are the people who think they can threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle, and mock. During and after the candlelight vigils to honor victims of gun violence, the gun rights extremists ramped up their rhetoric… Well Joan’s a regular commenter over on the CSGV’s FB page. Let’s take a look at some of the polite, respectful comments she joins HER voice to:
Rex Stuart Take their guns away and their belligerent attitudes goes with it.

Kathy Tomon Sluck What cowardly pieces of shit these bastards who are so afraid of losing their guns are.

Rex Stuart They were so hyper in their video, surprised they didn’t shoot theirselves in the foot. Imagine one of them walking down a crowded street acting like that. The dangerous part about them is they were laughing and smirking just before they started shooting, no conscience? I feel bad for anyone that has to live near them.Jane Thorne-Gutierrez That’s the LATE Charelton Heston whom I hope, was buried with his precious weapons!Just a small selection of the classy comments endorsed by the CSGV, Ladd Everitt and Joan, often on posts deliberately libeling and misquoting people along w/ a hefty dollop of ‘reasoned discourse’, never-mind regular commenter Andrew Goddard, religious bigot and another Brady Campaign leader.

Yet these individuals claim to have the moral high-ground while feeding off the bottom of the barrel. And they wonder why they have seen decreased public support for their cult.

[Image][Image][Image][Image]posted by Thirdpower at 10:59 PM on Jan 14, 2012
You poor dupe Joan.Joan Peterson, Brady Campaign Board member, says this about pro-rights bloggers (via an excellent post regarding her mental instability from Weer’d):
So there you have it dear readers. These are the people who read my blog and then go and comment on other people’s blogs. These are the people who the NRA represents. These are the people who think they can threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle, and mock. During and after the candlelight vigils to honor victims of gun violence, the gun rights extremists ramped up their rhetoric… Well Joan’s a regular commenter over on the CSGV’s FB page. Let’s take a look at some of the polite, respectful comments she joins HER voice to:
Rex Stuart Take their guns away and their belligerent attitudes goes with it.

Kathy Tomon Sluck What cowardly pieces of shit these bastards who are so afraid of losing their guns are.

Rex Stuart They were so hyper in their video, surprised they didn’t shoot theirselves in the foot. Imagine one of them walking down a crowded street acting like that. The dangerous part about them is they were laughing and smirking just before they started shooting, no conscience? I feel bad for anyone that has to live near them.Jane Thorne-Gutierrez That’s the LATE Charelton Heston whom I hope, was buried with his precious weapons!Just a small selection of the classy comments endorsed by the CSGV, Ladd Everitt and Joan, often on posts deliberately libeling and misquoting people along w/ a hefty dollop of ‘reasoned discourse’, never-mind regular commenter Andrew Goddard, religious bigot and another Brady Campaign leader.

Yet these individuals claim to have the moral high-ground while feeding off the bottom of the barrel. And they wonder why they have seen decreased public support for their cult.

[Image][Image][Image][Image]posted by Thirdpower at 10:59 PM on Jan 14, 2012
Joan Peterson, Brady Campaign Board member, says this about pro-rights bloggers (via an excellent post regarding her mental instability from Weer’d):
So there you have it dear readers. These are the people who read my blog and then go and comment on other people’s blogs. These are the people who the NRA represents. These are the people who think they can threaten, demean, name-call, abuse, belittle, and mock. During and after the candlelight vigils to honor victims of gun violence, the gun rights extremists ramped up their rhetoric… Well Joan’s a regular commenter over on the CSGV’s FB page. Let’s take a look at some of the polite, respectful comments she joins HER voice to:
Rex Stuart Take their guns away and their belligerent attitudes goes with it.

Kathy Tomon Sluck What cowardly pieces of shit these bastards who are so afraid of losing their guns are.

Rex Stuart They were so hyper in their video, surprised they didn’t shoot theirselves in the foot. Imagine one of them walking down a crowded street acting like that. The dangerous part about them is they were laughing and smirking just before they started shooting, no conscience? I feel bad for anyone that has to live near them.Jane Thorne-Gutierrez That’s the LATE Charelton Heston whom I hope, was buried with his precious weapons!Just a small selection of the classy comments endorsed by the CSGV, Ladd Everitt and Joan, often on posts deliberately libeling and misquoting people along w/ a hefty dollop of ‘reasoned discourse’, never-mind regular commenter Andrew Goddard, religious bigot and another Brady Campaign leader.

Yet these individuals claim to have the moral high-ground while feeding off the bottom of the barrel. And they wonder why they have seen decreased public support for their cult.

[Image][Image][Image][Image]posted by Thirdpower at 10:59 PM on Jan 14, 2012

She doesn’t want peace. Gun control is CONTROL. We deny her hysterics, and she can’t have that. The most unfortunate thing is I can’t figure out if she’s a pawn, or if she knows what she’s fighting for. Either way, she’s hitched herself too tightly to that wagon to change.

Bravo! I think Joan Peterson is about to get a lesson in a concept that is foreign to her, but all too familiar to us: Eternal vigilance.

And it’s all too obvious that she has absolutely no idea whatsoever why we fight so hard, and will never, ever stop. She doesn’t have the slightest clue that we do it for our families, those easily preyed upon, and future generations more than any other reason.

Yes, Joan, these folks do have mothers, sisters, children, and brothers. And that is why we will never give up. We will never, ever leave you alone. Every time I think perhaps I should give you a break, be a little less snarky towards your inane drivel, I look at my 18 month old daughter, whom you’d rather see raped and murdered (murdered by someone using a gun, you hope, other methods don’t count to you.), so you can rejoice in her bloodshed to push your sick agenda, rather than give me (and her, when she’s old enough) the fighting chance to keep my family alive. All we want is the choice. The choice to defend ourselves and our loved ones. You can feel free to defer your safety to the state, and those who would wish you and your family harm, just so you can play the victim the rest of your life, cry “poor, pitiful me” every time one of us actually decides we’ve had enough of your decades-long reign of victim-disarmament policies, and finally says “NO, I’m not going to let these people do this to me!” and stands up for themselves.

I do this for my family, I do this for the families of all my friends, neighbors, bloggers, tweeters, folks at the range, co-workers, so that when the dreaded day comes that we all hope never comes, they may all have a fighting chance. We are many, and together we are strong, and with the courage that the Heller & McDonald cases gave us to finally turn the tables on the decades of being pushed around, we are going to run you over. All we really want is to be left alone. But so long as you try to keep us from having that choice to be a victim or not, we will never stop.

I had to take a few minutes to gather myself. My eyes are still full of tears. I am so proud to call you my friend and I feel so blessed that you are who you are. I sobbed after reading this for the victims we, the gun community, haven’t been able to comfort because sadly they passed. Your line about Joan wanting that poor sweet girl who fought for the life of her son, that Joan wanted her to die, so she could be a clear cut victim, reading that line made me physically sick. I knew that about their cause, but to read it put so bluntly, made me sick.

I do not know that is what Joan truly believes. I will say that the evidence is overwhelmingly against her. I came to that conclusion after reviewing all the information I put above. With her comments regarding the Kroger’s incident along with her statements regarding crime rates I don’t know what other logical conclusion could be made. How can you defend a criminal and use it as an example of how guns are bad and not want harm to come upon the innocent?

Looking at her behavior and comments directed at you and Jennifer, it further cements the conclusions I made especially regarding her view of victims. I don’t remember where I saw it but one of the responses made a comment that she is attempting to claim ownership of victims. That disturbs me in more ways than I can think of.

I don’t want to own a victim. I don’t want victims at all, what I want is build up people who can stand up and say I don’t want to be a victim. Even more importantly, I’m not going to let being a victim control my life. I want to arm people with the knowledge and skill to persevere. I want people to be able to make the choice to defend themselves. Even if danger came knocking when they were unprepared, I want to make them whole again. They are a person first and foremost and they deserve respect and the effort to fill the void. I do this because they are worth fighting for. Just as you are worth fighting for, I am worth fighting for, my family is worth fighting for, a victim must realize they are worth fighting for.

Hey Barron, I’m back looking at this page and some how my post got FUBAR’d from what I typed to what actually posted. Can you please pull it? I have no idea what happend and it makes NO sense in it’s present form! It was supposed to be a paragraph and a few lines.

As I said over my place, I genuinely do not care how people choose to remember those who have died, so long as they are doing so in a fashion that does not harm anyone else. Have your vigils. Light your candles. Do whatever moves you. It is your life, they are your dead, and you can do as you please.

The very second you start using those deaths as a lever upon which you will mount an assault against my rights – when I have no responsibility, no association, and no relation to those people’s deaths – is the second I start fighting against you in every way possible I can. Yes, that is self-centered – your point? If you cannot stand up for the rights of the individual, you are not standing up for any rights, and, in that case, what the hell are you doing? (And this is all without even commenting on whether or not those victims would want their deaths to be used as leverage against law-abiding citizens – it must be nice to have a silent backer, unable to stop you from using their name in vain.)

Me, I cannot get over how the Brady Bunch and all the rest of them honored” criminals at their vigils… Their specious attempts at inflating their “victim” numbers came back to bite them in their collective arses, and boy are they pissed off about it.

Likewise, it bears repeating that being a victim (or, in Joan’s case, claiming to be a vicitm) does not make one automatically right, it does not make one an expert, and it does not make one above reproach. It may give you a somewhat unique view into the situation, but even that is not a guarantee. If Joan would realize/comprehend that point, she would alleviate a lot of the angst and anger she feels when people disagree with her… but it would also force her to give up her shanghai’d puplit.

Also, editorial comment: ” You’re less of a victim than they are since they both experienced it in the third person, they have the point of view of your sister, not yourself. ” I think you mean “first person” rather than third, at least in reference to Jennifer and A Girl With A Gun.

I really can’t fathom this woman. I just can’t. Seeing the hatred of an object so consume someone as to blot out every other thing just saddens me.

Thank you for this post. Is is so beautiful and so very well written. Like A Girl I was moved to tears. It breaks my heart to see how truly low Joan can sink and honestly I think you hit the nail on the head with that.

You are correct in stating that I am very proud that you stand
up—verbally and physically—for yourself and others. I know that your
father would be very proud of you were he still living. Personal
integrity defines who you are. If Joan does not want to own a firearm, or
a knife, that is her choice and I don’t believe you are asking her to do so;
simply not to deny you the right to own weapons for your own defense or to
twist your beliefs and intents to suit her personal agenda.

Nice job!
Joan is so blinded by her agenda that she can’t comprehend logic. I don’t think anyone will ever convince her to change her position. But I do think there is great value in shining a bright light on her hypocrisy. She’s been reduced to stammering about and claiming insults where none were made.

Peterson reminds me of people I’ve known who think Britain’s gun laws are wonderful because ‘they have so much less gun violence!’ Point out the overall violent crime rates, how horrible they are, that gets either glossed over or ignored; as you say, someone being beaten or stabbed to death is bad, but to them: “At least he wasn’t killed with a gun.”

I do think we (the gun-rights community) need to change tack a little bit. There is no need to address Joan, Baldr and the rest directly — nothing we or anyone else ever says will change their argument. And no need to address ourselves — we know the holes in the gun-controllers statements and their ultimate goals.

We need to address our comments to the great grey undecideds, to those who are coming in ‘cold’, and who might initially see Joan and the folks like her in a more sympathetic light. We need to help those undecided folks see we are reasoned, researched, and practical, in order to gain their support even if they do not want to join the ranks of the gun-owners themselves.

I’ve only been reading Joan’s semi-incoherent ramblings for the last couple of
months. I’ve come to the conclusion that she is truly suffering from some form
of mental illness and I can only hope that she eventually seeks help.The
really despicable parties here are the Brady Bunch, CSGV and their ilk. They found an
emotionally troubled woman suffering from the loss of her sister and are
expoliting her vulnerablities. She, of weak and fragile mind, in turn finds kindred spirits and
welcomes their warm embrace. She has swallowed so much of their pablum that she has lost all capacity for any rational thought. Many questions/answers on her blog that deviate from her myopic world-view are either not allowed to post (I know all about that!) or are met with her famous “asked and answered many times…”

She needs to seek professional mental help. She should also stop comiserating with other professional victims and their exploiters. At the very least she’d be a much happier person.

First off, like you Barron, my mom does read my blog. Still weirds me out sometimes when she calls or texts me about a post. So, Joan, if you’re reading this, I do have to consider what Mom will think of what I write. However, Mom raised me to be honest, and fair, and to stand up for what I believe, and she’s only rarely been disappointed in what I write (and most of that is for language within rants.)

Secondly, I’d go so far as to say that my desire to educate and help victims heal themselves is strong enough that even if Joan herself, the perpetual victim, were to reach out in good faith and ask for our help in making herself strong, whole and healthy, I don’t think I could turn her down. Maybe it’s the Eagle Scout, and the Arrowman, and the rest of how I was raised, but it’s not in me to deny help honestly asked for.

If Joan honestly came and asked for help, on the level, I would give her the all the support I could. I’m a fellow Arrowman, as well as a “traveling man” who is searching for that which has been lost. There are many reasons I would provide my help. But we’re evil horrible people, and as I just found out, evidently I’m a jerk too.

I’m in the same boat as you with my mom. I avoid profanity laced rants as much as possible. If something ticks me off and sends me off the deep end where I turn into JayG’s twin, I’m gonna get a phone call.

For me, there is one area that puts me in over drive. Specifically, if she is going to quote the Bible about “turning the other cheek” she should get the context right. The “turning the other cheek” is advice to use appropriate and restrained responses to lesser insulting slights; it is not meant to let evil murderous attacks proceed. We should not have “turned the other cheek” with Nazi aggression in WWII or with other great evils. Not opposing great evil is in essence condoning it. So, on a macro level, the only just response to the Nazis was to utterly destroy them. Similarly, on the micro level, the use of deadly force to protect the innocent from criminals is morally just.

If she believes that use of a gun is horrible, what does she think about me using my knife to carve up a assailant? Kind of deflates the whole gun violence theme.

It is despicable for her to want to require us to be disarmed and passive when violence is directed at us. The entire gun control mentality is based on being a coward/hypocrite (Call 911 and let the police do the dirty work for me).

If something is really precious to you, you should be willing to fight to keep it. My wife, my children, and my life are all very precious to me and so very worthy of fighting to protect. A firearm is a far better tool to use than my aging hands, my aching knees, or any other part that God originally gifted me with. I cannot guarantee that I will never be a victim, but my intention is to protect myself, and those I love with any tool, and in any way that I can.

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